Crypto News: Brussels Edition: Tough talks ahead

Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.

The commission expects challenging talks when the World Trade Organization's 164 members come together later this month in Geneva. High-level discussions will focus on subsidies for fisheries and farmers, Covid-19 vaccine patents and the reform of the organization itself. Some even expect that delegations will push against restrictive measures imposed by countries like India on its food exports amid the global supply constraints. Chances of achieving any breakthroughs are limited, we are told. EU trade ministers will prepare the ministerial conference when they meet today in Luxembourg, where they will review EU-US trade relations and look at the perspective of a high-level trade dialogue with China.

—Jorge Valero and Katharina Rosskopf

Banned Lobbyists | The European Parliament is prohibiting Russian company representatives from entering its premises. "We must not allow them any space to spread their propaganda & false, toxic narratives about the invasion of Ukraine," President Roberta Metsola said in a tweet. The ban comes into effect immediately.

Priced in Hike | Efforts by ECB hawks to secure an initial half-point hike in interest rates will fail as policy makers agree on a series of smaller increases, according to our survey of economists. The ECB will lift the deposit rate — now at -0.5% — by a quarter-point in July and again in September, the poll showed. The ECB last raised rates by a half-point in 2000.

Open Door | German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she supports EU candidacy status for Ukraine. "We cannot slam the door in the face of Ukraine" Baerbock said. The commission will make a final decision on the country's candidacy status this June, she said. Read our rolling Ukraine Latest.

Monkeypox Risks | The outbreak of monkeypox is unusual, but the risk for the general population is low and no massive surge in cases is expected, Marco Cavaleri, head of the biological health threats unit at the European Medicines Agency, said yesterday. Still, the EU drugs authority is in talks with pharmaceuticals company Bavarian Nordic to possibly use a smallpox vaccine to prevent monkeypox.

Sanctions Done | The EU approved a sixth package of Russia sanctions, including a partial ban on oil imports, after Hungary dropped objections that had been holding it up for weeks. EU ambassadors backed the measures yesterday, but had to remove Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill from the sanctions list to appease Viktor Orban.

Willingly Unemployed | In a litany of woes Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco listed this week, the sheer number of his fellow citizens who don't bother seeking work was especially bleak. The proportion of people active in the labor market is among the lowest in Europe, he complained to the country's economic elite. Learn what else he said.

No More Birds | The EU has moved into a post "hawks and doves" era, as traditional fiscal stereotypes have become less relevant, Dutch Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag told us. Rather than hanging labels on each other "the point is what is the best policy," Kaag said in an interview yesterday.

Vaccine Delay | Moderna agreed to postpone vaccine deliveries originally scheduled for the second quarter of 2022 to later this year, adapting to the needs of EU member states. The company also will deliver jabs adapted to current Covid-19 variants, if they get an EMA market authorization.

Euro-zone inflation is breaking record after record, but the gap between the highest and lowest rates among the currency bloc's 19 members has also jumped to its widest ever. The scale ranges from Malta — where consumer prices advanced 5.6% last month, to Estonia — where inflation hit 20.1%. That's a difference of more than 14 percentage points, more than at any time since the dawn of the euro in 1999.

All times CET.

EU trade ministers and telecom ministers meet in Luxembourg
1.30 p.m. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris
Commission Vice President Margaritas Schinas in Washington, DC
Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager participates in ALDE congress in Dublin
Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni in Turin for Festival Economia di Torino

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